View full sizeBruce Ely/The OregonianNicolas Batum is tended by head athletic trainer Jay Jensen on the bench as the Portland Trail Blazers face the Utah Jazz last week at the Rose Garden.View full sizeBrent Wojahn/The OregonianBlazers small forward Nicolas Batum is out indefinitely with a torn labrum.TUALATIN -- The Trail Blazers' season of great expectations was dealt a sobering dose of adversity Monday, roughly 24 hours before the start of the first game, when the team announced that Nicolas Batum would undergo surgery to repair a torn labrum in his right shoulder.

Officially, a timetable for Batum's return will be established after his surgery on Friday. But after practice Monday, Batum said he had been told he would miss between three and five months, putting his return no sooner than the beginning of February.

"This is a big disappointment for me," Batum said. "I think it's the worst thing for a basketball player to go sit on the bench and watch your teammates and your team play, and play good. It's going to be tough for me."

Although Blazers coach Nate McMillan refused to name Batum's replacement in the starting lineup, Martell Webster drew the assignment during Monday's practice and multiple players said Webster would inherit the role. Travis Outlaw, who was supposed to play almost exclusively at power forward, is expected to serve as Webster's primary backup and see time at both forward positions.

Beyond that, it is too early to tell how the Blazers' rotation will unfold. McMillan said he has not ruled out staying with a 10-player rotation, which he intended to do before Batum went down, saying he might plug Juwan Howard into the power forward spot alongside Outlaw in the second unit.

McMillan likely will keep things simple Tuesday, when the Blazers host the Houston Rockets, and let the lineup evolve as the season progresses and he gets a feel for which combinations work. Depending on matchups, McMillan could go in a variety of directions, and he almost certainly will play Brandon Roy more at small forward, perhaps in the same lineup as Rudy Fernandez. Both have played small forward in a pinch in the past.

McMillan also said he would consider playing rookie Dante Cunningham, if necessary. One thing the Blazers will not do, according to general manager Kevin Pritchard, is bring Ime Udoka back into the fray. The veteran small forward was released last week, when the Blazers decided to award injured point guard Patty Mills their 15th roster spot, and Udoka has cleared waivers, meaning any team in the NBA can claim him.

Regardless, this much is clear: It didn't take long for that heralded Blazers' depth to become an asset.

"We've been talking about depth for so long with this team," McMillan said. "It should be somewhat of a smooth transition for us."

The roughest aspect will no doubt come on defense, where Batum had carved out a reputation as a burgeoning stopper.

Defense was the message when McMillan gathered Batum, Webster and Outlaw for a closed-door meeting Sunday afternoon to discuss how the team would proceed without Batum.

"He's expecting us to go in there and play defense," Webster said. "That's what that position is supposed to do every night because every night the (small forward) is going to have the hardest matchup, guarding the Kobes, the Wades, the Carmelos, the LeBrons, and you have to be ready and he expects that position to play defense every night."

The injury was not a new one for Batum. He originally dinged his shoulder last season on March 11 in the third quarter of a 93-89 loss to the Dallas Mavericks at the Rose Garden. He gritted through the rest of the season and during the summer, when he played for the French National Team. In August, Batum left his French teammates and flew to Portland to have his shoulder examined by Blazers' doctors, but was cleared to rejoin the international competition.

Batum had hoped the worst was behind him heading into training camp and tried to play through the injury, but said the pain had gradually become too great the last two weeks. He routinely aggravated the injury during games and practices as he continually ran into screens or had his arm tugged by a defender.

The breaking point came during Sunday's practice, when he ran into a Greg Oden screen.

"I got screened by Greg and it was too much for me," Batum said. "I run to (athletic trainer) Jay (Jensen's) office almost crying because it was too much pain for me. I've played with (the injury) for seven months. But it was too much for me, too much pain. I can't play with it right now."

The timing of the injury was labeled "creepy" by McMillan and "crazy" by Webster, because it was about this time last season that Webster broke a bone in his left foot and wound up missing all but five minutes of the season. His injury opened the door for Batum's emergence and he went on to start 81 games, including five in the playoffs. Batum averaged 5.4 points and 2.8 rebounds and shot 36.9 percent from three-point range during the regular season.

Now the starting assignment goes back to Webster, who has started 115 games in his career, including 70 during the 2007-08 season. And even though the Blazers have lost one of their most talented defenders, Webster says the goals remain the same for a team that is expected to contend for the Northwest Division championship.

"Our depth is still great," Webster said. "We'd love to have Nic. He definitely earned that starting position. It's unfortunate that he's out. But we got to keep going, gotta keep playing. Like Coach said, it doesn't matter if someone goes out, there's still another game tomorrow. And guys have to be ready."